


Kamen Rider Zi-O (Again)

by xelloss_poo



Category: Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21657523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xelloss_poo/pseuds/xelloss_poo
Summary: Kamen Rider Zi-O had a lot of problems. The time travel aspect was a giant hot mess. The ride watch system (how they were acquired and all the inconsistent) plot holes were huge and gaping. There were very large plot threads that were just sort of left there without any explanation at all.  Plus the ending. Oh my God, that stupid ending.So I'm rewriting the whole show. Keeping some parts, completely reworking others to make it have a coherent plot and and rider system that doesn't keep changing every few episodes. Hopefully making the characters likable and having more depth than they were given.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	1. The Beginning?

**Author's Note:**

> It has been years and years since I've written. I was going to do this for NaNo, but November ended up being a particularly busy month for me. So I'm doing it in December. I'm hoping to make it through the series this month. So since this is NaNo-ish, there isn't a lot of editing going on. If there's any mistakes, please feel to leave a comment with them. Constructive critism is always okay.
> 
> Thanks to kiranosaurusrex, for being my sounding and venting board. :)

The world was a brown dusty wasteland. People struggling and fighting against Oma Zi-O’s oppression for as long as Geiz could remember. Those who stood against Oma Zi-O didn’t last long, destroyed by the great power Oma Zi-O possessed. But Geiz, like so many others, just couldn’t give up. There had to be a way to defeat him. To destroy him. It was why Geiz had joined the resistance. Why the resistance needed every able bodied person to help in taking down Oma Zi-O.

Geiz turned his dark eyes back from the rocks and dirt to look back at his group leader. Woz was dressed in his usual gray-green coat. The burlap cloak, that all the resistance wore, was hanging folded over his arm. 

“As I said before, I’m going to join Oma Zi-O’s forces to spy on him. Hopefully, I can quickly work my way up through his ranks and report back on what I’ve found,” Woz said, his voice beginning to hold an exasperated edge. He looked between Tsukuyomi’s and Geiz’s faces. “We need someone on the inside.”

Geiz frown hardened and he crossed his arms. “I don’t see why you need to be the one to do this. You’re just going to get yourself caught, tortured and killed. And then where will we be?”

Tsukuyomi reached over and squeezed Geiz’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine.” She looked at Woz, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I believe in you.” She gave a sharp nod. “You’ll make it out. I know you will.”

Woz smiled back at Tsukuyomi and turned his attention back to Geiz. His smile turned sly. “Are you going to me miss me, Geiz-kun?”

Geiz shifted uncomfortably. “Of- Of course not. I- I just don’t want to lose you.”

Woz’s smile grew. “Oh?”

Geiz’s face began to flush. He glared and stomped his foot. “N-not like that! You’re the best leader we have. If you go and die, who’s going to stop him then? It’s just a stupid suicide mission.”

Woz’s smile faded and his face grew serious. “We need information. Information that we haven’t been able to find anywhere else.” He looked up at the sky. “I have the best chance of our group.” He looked back to Geiz and Tsukuyomi. “I’m leaving you two in charge. If it all works out well, I should be able to send something back in a few months. If not… you two need to keep fighting.” 

“But-!” Geiz started to step forward to protest. 

Tsukuyomi grabbed Geiz’s arm and pulled him back. “We’ll do you proud, Woz.”

Geiz turned his affronted look to Tsukuyomi. “Tsukuyomi, what-”

“Good luck,” Tsukuyomi cut-in over Geiz, her voice cracking slightly. “We’ll be waiting for your return.” 

Woz nodded. He folded his burlap cloak again and laid it down on the ground. He took a step back. “I’ve left some emergency plans. If worse comes to worst, follow the instructions in the letter.” 

Geiz pulled his arm free from Tsukuyomi’s hold. He looked back at Woz. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched Woz turn and walk away. “You better come back,” Geiz called out after him. “If you don’t, I’ll- I’ll go back in time and- and kill you myself. You hear me, Woz!” 

Woz turned back with a laugh. “I look forward to it, Geiz-kun,” Woz called back to Geiz and Tsukuyomi with a final wave. He turned around and continued walking.

Geiz sniffed loudly, his had scrubbing at his eyes. “Come on, Tsukuyomi. Let’s go.” He turned away from Woz’s retreating form.

Tsukuyomi’s lips twitched slightly, even as her voice cracked slightly. “Are you crying, Geiz-kun?” 

“No. It’s just some dust.” He wiped at his eyes again with his sleeve. 

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Geiz felt his stomach drop. He turned his head and looked up out of the trench he had tackled Tsukuyomi into. The ground was scorched. Scorched and empty. Where the rest of his unit had been was now just empty. No bodies, no blood, just nothing but the burned earth where they had once been. Where they had been mere moments ago.

Oma Zi-O had already turned was walking away. Walking away like he had done nothing more than swat at a fly. Walking away like he hadn’t just killed Geiz’s friends. Like he hadn’t just wiped from existence all the people in Geiz’s unit. Like he hadn’t just destroyed Geiz’s world yet again.

Geiz pushed himself up. He pushed against the ground, so that he could go over there and kill Oma Zi-O once and for all. He pulled against the hands grabbing at his arms, trying to pull him back down into the hole. He flailed his legs trying to get purchase against the ground and not against Tsukyomi who kept trying to hold him back.

“Let me go!” Geiz looked away from Oma Zi-O to glare at Tsukuyomi. “Let me go! I’ll kill him!” He pulled again. “Let me go!”

“You can’t! He’ll kill you!” Tsukuyomi cried, tears running down her dirt smudged face.

“I don’t care! I don’t care! I have to kill him!” Geiz squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out sight of Tsukuyomi. “He killed everyone. He killed everyone again,” he whispered, his voice cracking harshly. “I have to kill him.” Geiz opened his eyes. “I have to!” He shouted again and pulled himself free from Tsukuyomi’s grip. He climbed out of the hold and faced the battlefield once more. 

“Damnit!” Geiz cried out. He dropped to his knees and curled over forward. He beat his fists against the ground. “Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!” He squeezed his eyes shut so he didn’t see the dirt under his face slowly getting more and more damp. 

Tsukuyomi followed Geiz up out of the hole. She let out a soft cry as she took in the emptiness around them. Her hand covered her mouth as more tears ran down her face. She took a few shaky steps over to where Geiz was and collapsed on her knees next to him. She leaned and curled herself over Geiz. Geiz shook his shoulders to try to dislodge her, but when she didn’t budge just accepted it.

“It’s my fault. It’s all my fault,” Geiz finally said, his voice rough. 

“No, it’s not. It’s not.” Tsukuyomi clung harder to Geiz. “We’ll stop him, Geiz-kun. We will.”

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

_Dear Geiz and Tsukuyomi,_

_If you’re reading this, then I’ve not managed to make it back. Or things have gotten even worse. I thought that I would be able to do it and help save us all._

_Enclosed with this letter are two keys that can change everything. These are the last resorts to only be used when everything else has failed. Before I came here, I was working with another group on technology that could be used to change the war. It was successful. However, using it is not without severe consequences of its own._

_They are the keys to two time machines. The problem is that once you go back and make any changes, this future will no longer exist. You won’t be able to come back and, in the worst case, you may cease to exist. That is why these are the last resort. I can’t ask you to give up everything._

_Geiz, Tsukuyomi, please think carefully before you decide to use these._

_Best of luck,  
Woz_

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Geiz gave the letter to Tsukuyomi. The two keys from the envelope rested in his hand. He closed his hand into a fist around them, feeling the key’s teeth dig into his skin.

“What do you think?” Geiz asked.

Tsukuyomi folded the letter and set it down on the box they were using as a table. 

“It sounds hard to believe.” Tsukuyomi ran her left hand through her hair. “But if it’s possible…” She swallowed and stared into Geiz’s eyes. “We could change everything. No more fighting. No more deaths.”

“No more Oma Zi-O,” Geiz finished. “I’m doing it.” 

“We’re going to do it,” Tsukuyomi said. She reached out to hold Geiz’s fist which still held the keys. “If we prep tonight, we can leave first thing in the morning. Get there, go back to the past, and convince the Oma Zi-O to not become the Oma Zi-O.” She gave Geiz a small smile and squeezed his hand. “We can do it!” 

Geiz stiffened. “Huh? Convince the Oma Zi-O to not become… I’m not going to convince him of anything. I’m going to kill him!”

“No Geiz-kun!” Tsukuyomi shook his hand. “There’s been enough death. We can’t do what he’s doing! We have to be better than him!”

Geiz tugged at his hand, but Tsukuyomi held firm. He looked at her set mouth. “… Fine. We’ll… convince him,” Geiz sneered. He tugged his hand out of Tsukuyomi’s. “I’m going to bed.”

Tsukuyomi stood. “Geiz,” she held out her hand. “My key.” 

Geiz paused and looked at the two keys in his hand. 

“Here,” he called back. He tossed the silver key back to where Tsukuyomi was standing. 

“See you in the morning.” 

“Aa. Morning.” Geiz exited Tsukuyomi’s tent and went back to his own. “Maybe,” he added softly to himself as his tent flap shut behind him.


	2. A future confronted

Tokiwa Sougo pushed his bike up the hill heading home lost in thought. The second semester of his final year of high school had been okay so far. All of his classmates had been talking about what schools they were trying to get into and the upcoming entrance exams. Of course, for someone who was going to be the king of the world, like himself, university just wasn’t in his future. He wasn’t going to waste his time or his money to get a degree for a job that would just distract him from ruling. Why couldn’t everyone else understand that.

He smiled as he finally reached his house. He locked his bike up in the back and then went in through the front.

“I’m home,” he said softly when he entered and noticed his uncle busy with a customer.

The clocks around the front room gave off a nice ticking sound as he walked through to the dining room. It was rare that people brought in clocks for repair. Sougo put his backpack down on the bench. He went back towards the front when he heard the front door bell ring.

“So, someone came in for a repair, huh?” Sougo smiled. 

“Well,” his uncle Junichiro laughed. “She actually brought in a radio…” He sighed. “I mean, I’m a clock-repair shop, why do people think they can just bring me any old thing and I’ll just fix it? I fix clocks, not radios.” 

Sougo’s eyes sparked with mischief. “Oh, I guess that means that you told her no then.”

Junichiro scoffed. “I mean, a radio is better than nothing. And work is work… even if it is a radio.” 

Sougo laughed.

“Ah, and that reminds me,” His uncle said. “It’s September. It’s getting closer to the end of the year and the entrance exams. Are you going to…” He trailed off and looked hopefully at Sougo.

“Oh,” Sougo ate a cherry. “Well, I’m going to be king of the world. So, of course I don’t need to worry about entrance exams.” He smiled at his uncle. “Right?”

His uncle laughed nervously. “Yeah… That’s right. King of the world… How could I have forgotten…”

Sougo grinned. “I have to keep my focus. It’s going to happen. You’ll see.” He picked up his bag and continued up the stairs.

Junichiro watched Sougo vanish up the stairs and let out a sigh. He walked back over to the counter-top where he’d been keeping some pamphlets on mock exams. He gathered them up and flipped through them one last time. He gave another sigh as he dropped them all in the trash can. 

He turned to look at his shop front. Every wall was filled with clocks of every kind and variety. Not many people came for clock repairs any more. It was often easier to just buy a new one, but he was still open. He knew that one day he’d get more customers, that they’d see the beauty and wonder of these old things again. Junichiro gave a sad smile. Sougo definitely took after his side of the family, full of their dogged determination, even against the mightiest of odds. Who was he to tell Sougo that his dream was still that of a child’s?

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo looked over his shoulder for the fourth time. There was nothing there. At least, nothing more than usual. He shook his head and kept moving, trying to ignore the strange feeling of someone watching him. Every time he’d turned around before there was nothing. He looked up at the trees and powerlines. Behind him, high on the telephone wires sat a crow. The crow cocked its head at him.

“Just a crow,” Sougo laughed. “Hello Crow-san. I hope you’re well.” Sougo shook his head and continued on his way to the store. 

Or at least he tried to. He had only moved a few more meters before a strange man stepped in front of him, causing him to brake hard.

“Oh. Sorry,” Sougo said as he stopped, barely before hitting the man.

“Congratulations,” the man said. He flipped open a large tome and took few steps around Sougo.

“Huh?” Sougo stared at the man. He had a gray hood over his head, and was wearing a long sleeved coat. Sougo felt hot just looking at him. Who wore a jacket in 26 C degree weather? Maybe he was from a desert somewhere? 

“Today is a very special day for you,” the man continued on. He looked Sougo up and down. 

Sougo froze.

“Just be careful of red robots.” The man closed his book with a loud snap. Sougo jumped.

“Umm… Thanks,” Sougo mumbled. He looked behind him to see if anyone else was there. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Sougo trailed off as he turned to where the man was. Or rather had been, since there was no nothing and no one there. Sougo looked around again, trying to find the man to no avail. He shook his head. “Must be the heat…”

The crow on the telephone line laughed at him. Sougo gave a nervous laugh and then got back on his bike. The groceries wouldn’t buy themselves. And if he decided to take the long way home that wouldn’t take him by this street, that was fine. He needed the exercise anyway.

He pushed hard for the next three blocks, glancing behind every now and then trying to find the strange man again. Sougo turned left and slammed on his brakes yet again.

Standing in the middle of the road directly in front of him was a giant red robot. It stood two stories tall. The red and black glistened in the sun. Then the robot’s head swiveled to look at him. 

Sougo’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He swallowed and a nervous laugh escaped out of his open mouth. He pushed his bike backwards and turned the handle bars. 

The robot took a step towards him. 

Sougo pushed his bike back another step. 

The robot took another step and raised its arm and took a swing at him. Sougo ducked under the swing and took off of his bike. He pedaled hard as the robot flew after him. His breath was labored as he took turn after turn going as fast as he could trying to loose the robot. Trying to lose the robot that seemed to just kept up with him. 

Sougo did another turn into one of the old covered shopping roads. He rode a few meters in, far enough that the robot’s arms couldn’t reach him. He gave a breathless laugh.

“Olly olly oxen free,” he called out to the robot.

The robot stopped at the entrance of the street, unable to enter. Sougo grinned. The robot lifted off into the air. Sougo followed the sound of the robot’s engines. His head moving up and then along the road to directly overhead where the robot hovered over him in the sky. He felt his eyes widen again as the robot started to fall down towards him. He started pedaling down the road as the robot destroyed the glass panel where he had been standing before. He kept swerving, trying to make it harder for the robot hit him every time in slammed into the glass roof panels.

As Sougo was about to reach the next cross street, the giant red robot landed in his path. He skidded to stop directly in front of the robot. The robot’s arm pulled back. Sougo closed his eyes and huddled down over his handlebars. 

The next second, all Sougo could hear was the sound of metal slamming into metal. He looked up. The red robot had be shoved down the street by a black and silver robot, which was now in front of him. Sougo’s head whipped back and forth between the two robots. A hatch slid open and ramp descended on the black and silver robot as the red robot got back to its feet.

“Quick! Get in!” a female voice called out from the robot in front of him. Sougo clambered off his back and raced up the ramp. The door slid closed as the red robot started to fly towards them. 

Sougo turned to the woman standing in the robot with him. “What’s going-”

“Later,” she said. Her eyes darting between the various hologram panels in front of her. Her hands moving, hitting buttons and then grabbing onto the joysticks. “Hang on.” 

The black robot took off into the air. Sougo screamed and fell onto the floor. He crawled over to nearest wall and braced himself. He looked at the panels that showed views of the outside. The red robot was where they had just been a second ago. He looked at the screen next to it as a blue hexagon appeared in the sky directly in their path.

“What’s happening?” Sougo asked in a panic, holding harder onto the wall. “Who are you?”

The robot flew through the hexagon into a tunnel of lights and then out into blue sky again. Sougo watched with wide eyes as a pterodactyl flew across the screen. His jaw fell open.

“Hang on. We’re not done yet,” the woman said. 

Sougo looked back at her for a second before looking back at the screen where another hexagon had appeared. Sougo closed his eyes.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

“I’m Tsukuyomi,” the woman said. “I’m from the future. I’ve come to stop you from becoming Oma Zi-O.” 

Sougo blinked. “O ma’? Zeo? I don’t know-”

“In 2068, you will become Oma Zi-O and destroy the world. I’ve come from the future to stop you.”

“I… destroy the world?” Sougo said slowly. “That’s impossible…”

Tsukuyomi frowned. “Here. Watch this.” She pulled up a video onto the main screen. “This is you, Tokiwa Sougo, 50 years into the future.” 

Sougo watched as a man in a black suit with a gold sash destroyed everything around him. 

“He declared himself king of the world and then proceeded to destroy everything.” Tsukuyomi looked at Sougo. “I won’t let you make this the future again.”

“I wouldn’t ever do anything like that.” Sougo looked at Tsukuyomi and swallowed. “I mean, I’m going to be king, but I don’t want anyone to be hurt. I just want everyone to be happy. I’m going to be the king that makes the world happy. Not… not like that.”

Tsukuyomi frowned. “Well, its definitely you who becomes Oma Zi-O. The horrible villainous Oma Zi-O.” She pulled up another screen. “Tokiwa Sougo. Born April 28th, 2000. Living in Kujigojidō with his great-uncle, Junichiro Tokiwa. Currently in his last year of high school…”

Sougo put his head in his hand. “Air. I need some air.”


	3. Birth of the King

Sougo stretched and sat up. He scratched his head and looked around his room. He pushed the duvet off of himself. His room was the same as always. His school bag was open and in a pile next to his door. His clothes from yesterday were in their own pile in front of his laundry basket. Everything else was in order. 

“What a strange dream…” he muttered to himself.

“Sougo-kun. Breakfast time,” his uncle’s voice called from down the hall. 

“Coming,” Sougo replied. He got up and replaced the duvet on top of the futon neatly. He folded the futon into thirds and shoved it along the floor to the wall. He quickly pulled out some clothes and got dressed. 

“Ow!” Sougo cried out as he opened his door. He lifted his foot and looked down. A black and white circular cylinder was on under his foot. He bent down and picked it up. 

“What’s this?” He turned the device around in his hand. It looked like a weird pocket watch, except there weren’t any moving hands on it. And if he was honest, only two quarters of it actually looked like the face of a watch. The other two quarters had ‘2018’ and some sort of strange symbol. Sougo brought it closer to his face to get a better look at it. “Ka… X… So? U?” His thumb rubbed against the white rim. It shifted. He spun it a quarter turn around. The face of the clock now looked like it had a weird white and pink mask on it. He moved the white disk back and forth a few more times.

“Sougo-kun!” His uncle’s voice broke him out of his daze. 

“Be right there,” Sougo said. He gave the device one more long glance before he continued down to breakfast.

“Morning, Uncle,” Sougo smiled at his uncle who was in the kitchen as he came into the dining room. He put the item down on the table next to his plate and sat down. His plate had a pile of eggs, a few little sausages and a small salad. “Looks good.” 

“Good morning.” Junichiro looked up from the toast he was putting on the serving plate. He walked over and put the toast down on the table. He sat down across from Sougo. “Did you sleep well?” he asked as he started eating his own breakfast.

Sougo nodded. “Yeah, but I had a weird dream.”

“Oh?” Junichiro turned his attention to Sougo.

“I dreamed I traveled through time and found that I became the most evil king of world.” He pushed one of his sausages around his plate. “I’d destroyed the world…” 

“That doesn’t seem good,” his uncle replied. “But you don’t have to rush into anything, you know. You have plenty of time.” 

“Yeah…” Sougo picked the sausage up and took a bite. He met his uncle’s stare. 

“You’ve always wanted to be a king, ever since you were little.” He reached over and put a piece of toast onto Sougo’s plate. “Who’s to say that you have to become some evil king. The future is still ahead of you. You can still follow your dreams.” He placed the other piece of toast on his own plate. “You know, I had a dream when I was your age. I even had a chance to make it come true.”

Sougo blinked. “You did?” 

Junichiro laughed sadly. “I did. And you know what I did with that chance? Nothing. I was too scared of all the bad things that could happen. What if I had no money? What if I wasn’t good enough? What if I died while I was off following my dream?” He sighed. “So, I waited for another chance… when I was older and better prepared.”

Sougo leaned forward. “Did it come?”

“No. No, it didn’t. Life isn’t so kind as to always give second chances.” He gave Sougo a sad smile. “Instead I studied to repair clocks, just like my father did.” He leaned forward to Sougo. “But the future isn’t written yet. Life isn’t like the clocks I repair, where you can speed it up or turn it back. Or even set to follow a certain path. You just have to be brave enough to take each chance as it comes and choose your best future from there.”

Sougo nodded and took a bite of the toast. He looked at his mostly empty plate of food. Even without realizing it, he had been eating. It was almost all gone. He chewed thoughtfully, thinking over his uncle’s words. The silence that settled over the table broken by the sound of their eating.

“I think,” Sougo said after he swallowed his last bit of toast. “I want to be the king of the world even more now.”

Junichiro gave Sougo a smile. “Well, its good to have a dream.” 

Sougo smiled back at his uncle. “Thanks, Uncle.” He stood up and pushed his chair back in. “I’m going to head out for a walk.” He walked out of the dining room and called back to his uncle from the storefront. “Be back later!”

“Aa, Sougo-kun!” Junichiro called after him. “Your plate!” He hurriedly stood up and came around the table as the door bell chimed. He sighed and walked over to pick up Sougo’s dirty dishes. He shook his head. “What am I going to do with you?” He placed the dishes in the sink and went back to the table with a damp rag. 

He picked up the circular device. “What strange sort of watch is this?” He turned it around in his hand. He pressed the button at the top. Nothing happened. He placed it down on the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and went back to wipe the table. “Have to remind Sougo-kun not to leave his things on the table.” He finished cleaning the table off and headed to the store front. “Now, back to that radio…”

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo smiled as he walked down the street. His uncle didn’t usually talk about the past, so it was interesting to learn something new about him. He wondered what exactly his uncle’s dream had been. Maybe his uncle had wanted to join a circus. Or be the head teacher at some school full of delinquent students. Or maybe even a killer for hire! Sougo laughed at himself. He couldn’t see his uncle being anything other than what he was.

“Tokiwa Sougo!” A male voice called out to him. 

Sougo turned around to see who was calling his name. A person in a red armored suit stood before him. On his belt, it looked like there were similar items like what he had stepped on in his room. The man had an axe in his hand pointed at Sougo. Sougo blinked and took a step back.

“I’ve come to kill you and stop you from becoming Oma Zi-O.” The man in the suit ran at him. “Die!” 

Sougo turned and ran away. The sound of pounding feet followed him. The sound got louder and louder. Sougo glanced back and saw the suited man swing his axe down at him. Sougo managed to dodge his upper body to the side. His weight shifted and Sougo tripped over his own feet, falling over. Sougo tried to scramble back as the other man continued to approach him, raising his axe again for another swing.

“Geiz-kun! Wait!” Tsukuyomi ran over and grabbed a hold of Geiz’s arm. “You can’t kill him! He hasn’t become Oma Zi-O yet!”

“I don’t care!” Geiz focused his attention on Tsukuyomi. “I’ll kill him before he becomes him. It’ll solve everything. He has to die!” He wrenched his arm away from Tsukuyomi.

She grabbed at him again. “You can’t Geiz-kun. You are better than him! He doesn’t know anything about Zi-O or even about the watches.” 

Sougo had used the few seconds of distraction to pull himself further away from the pair. His hands continued to reach behind him and pull himself back and away. Sougo’s right hand landed on round instead of the ground. Sougo picked it up and looked at it. It was the same item as this morning. He looked back up at the pair in front of him. He pushed himself to his feet.

“I will become the king,” Sougo said, drawing the attention of Tsukuyomi and Geiz back to him. “I will. I’ll be the kindest and nicest king and make sure that everyone is happy! I won’t destroy the world!” He squeezed the watch.

“Sougo!” Tsukuyomi cried out. She took a step towards him. “Put that watch down. Get rid of it! Stop dreaming about being a king! You’ll just destroy everything!”

Sougo looked down at the watch in his hand. “I want to make the world a better place. I will make it a better place. And the only way to do that, is to be the king…”

Geiz growled and took a step forward. “Then-”

“That’s right. You must become the king.”

Sougo looked over to his side to see the strange man from yesterday come walking out of an alley. His gray hood pulled up over his face and his gray-green cloak twitching in the slight breeze.

“You-” Sougo started and then trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Geiz and Tsukuyomi turned to look at the newcomer.

“Woz…” Tsukuyomi breathed out. “What- What are you doing here?”

“Woz?” Geiz’s arms went limp. “We thought you were dead…”

Woz pushed his grey hood back and quirked his lips at Tsukuyomi and Geiz. Then he turned his attention back to Sougo. “The greatest demon king of all time. The King of Time, Oma Zi-O.” He walked to Sougo, his arms out-stretched. Between one second and the next, a pillow appeared in his hands bearing a white and black belt. Sougo reached out and grabbed the belt, pulling it over to his waist.

“Sougo, no!” Tsukuyomi yelled.

Geiz shouted and charged at Sougo.

The belt extended around Sougo’s waist and pulled the buckle tight with a ‘Jikuu Driver’. His right hand seemed to move of its own accord. He held the watch out in front of himself, turned the white face plate and pushed the button at the top. ‘Zi-O’ filled the air. Sougo snapped the watch into the belt buckle and pushed the button at the top of the belt. 

Sougo’s body continued to move of its own accord. “Henshin,” he said, as his left hand came down to spin the buckle.

A blast of power came out of the belt and flung Geiz away from him. Tsukuyomi looked between where Sougo stood and Geiz for a second, before she ran over to Geiz’s fallen form.

“Rejoice!” Woz decreed. His large tome once more open in his hand. “The one who will inherit all the riders’ powers.” 

Sougo brought his hand up to look at it. It was now covered in a black and pink armored glove. He squeezed his hand. He looked down at the rest of his body, which was covered in an armored outfit similar to Geiz’s. Sougo looked over at Tsukuyomi and Geiz. 

“No.” Tsukuyomi’s face was pale.

“The king who rules over the past and future! Behold! This is the moment that Kamen Rider Zi-O is born!”


	4. Kamen Rider Geiz

“Woz! What did you do?” Tsukuyomi screamed. She helped Geiz sit up. “How could you betray us like this!”

Woz smiled blandly. He flipped the tail end of his scarf back over his shoulder. “I am merely a loyal vassal for my demon king.” 

“We waited for you! We cried for you!” Tsukuyomi shouted. Tears slowly slid down her face. “How could you do this to us, Woz?”

Sougo’s head was ping-ponging back and forth between Woz and where Tsukuyomi and Geiz were. “Uhh… You know each other…?” He asked hesitantly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Geiz said and pushed himself up to his feet. “None of this matters. He chose the demon king’s path.”

Tsukuyomi and Sougo focused on Geiz. “Of course, it matters!”

“Not sure what is going on here, but maybe you all should just talk to each other,” Sougo said. He looked back at Woz. At least he looked back at where Woz had been standing. Nothing was there. Sougo turned around searching for Woz, who was no where to be seen. “Where did he go?” 

Geiz’s right hand tightened on his axe. Tsukuyomi scrambled to her feet in front of Geiz.

“He’s still innocent,” Tsukuyomi pleaded to Geiz.

“He chose his own fate, Tsukuyomi.” Geiz gently pushed Tsukuyomi to the side. “Die!” Geiz shouted. He charged at Sougo and let out his war cry.

Sougo screamed in fear. Geiz swung the axe down diagonally across Sougo’s chest. Sougo jumped back, narrowly avoiding the edge. Geiz brought his axe back up and did a backhanded slash again. 

“Jikan Gilade,” the Zi-O belt said. Sougo’s head bobbed down to look at his glowing belt. A pink light came out in the image of a clock. Geiz’s axe was rebuffed by the spinning hands on the clock. Geiz stumbled back a step back. The pinks hands of the clock dissolved into a sword clasped in Sougo’s hands. “Sword.” 

Geiz swung again and Sougo tried to parry it. The axe and sword clanged together as Geiz still advanced. Sougo continued to move backwards, continually trying to block the axe strikes. 

Geiz grabbed the axe with both hands and swung again. Sougo’s sword clattered to the ground and vanished. Geiz gave a short laugh. Sougo moved back a step and froze as his back hit a tree.

“Why won’t you just die!” Geiz shouted. He brought the axe down again. 

Sougo spun away from the axe and around the tree. The blade slammed into the tree and became embedded in the wood. Geiz pulled and yanked on the axe, trying to dislodge it. The blade didn’t move. Geiz let go the handle.

“I’ll just have to kill you with my own hands!” Geiz charged Sougo again, punching him. Sougo raised his arms to block the uppercut. Geiz threw a jab and another uppercut. Sougo’s arms moved to block his head, missing the hit to his stomach. Sougo grabbed onto his stomach and wheezed. Geiz side kicked him. Sougo flew back and rolled along ground. 

“Nothing personal.” Geiz pushed the button at the top of the watch that was in his belt.

‘Finish Time.’

Sougo stood on shaky legs.

“It’s just better for the future.” Geiz slammed his fist down on the top of his belt and then spun it. Geiz jumped into the air.

‘Rider Kick!’ 

Sougo bent over with his hands covering his head. Geiz flew through the air at him. Geiz slammed into Tsukuyomi’s robot. Geiz rolled to a stop. 

“Tsukuyomi?” Geiz said in shock. 

“Zi-O, run!” Tsukuyomi shouted. 

Sougo nodded his head quickly. He turned and started to run when a watch on his left wrist caught his attention. He brought up his hand to see a watch a labeled ‘bike’. 

“Hope this works,” he muttered. He pulled the bike watch off of his wrist and pressed the button on it. The watch began to vibrate and fell out of his hand. The watch hit the ground with a slight bounce. Sougo watched in awed amazement as the watch grew and transformed into a large motorcycle. He quickly climbed onto the bike and took off, leaving Tsukuyomi to deal Geiz.

“What are you doing?” Geiz shouted at Tsukuyomi. 

“He isn’t Oma Zi-O. We can change the future!” 

Geiz scoffed. He pulled off his own ‘bike’ watch and activated it. “By killing him,” Geiz threw back. He climbed on his own bike and took off after Sougo. Tsukuyomi stepped in front of Geiz’s bike, but he easily maneuvered around it and continued his chase.

“We can change Sougo!” Tsukuyomi shouted after Geiz. She powered up her robot and took off after Sougo and Geiz.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

“It’s just like riding a bike. It’s just like riding a bike,” Sougo chanted to himself as he drove along. He tried not think about the fact that someone had tried to kill him (repeatedly) and was in all probably likelihood now chasing him. He also was not going to think about the fact that he had never even driven a car or scooter, let alone a motorcycle. He had to get away. He had to get away somewhere safe where no one else could be put in danger. Sougo kept his eyes on the road even and continued his chant. 

He pulled out of the sleepy residential area and into the hilly area full of switchbacks. Sougo thought he could hear the sound of another bike coming up behind him. He chanced a look back. The road was curved enough where he couldn’t see anything behind him and where nothing behind him could see him. 

“This is it,” Sougo braked. “Hope this is like the sword…” He jumped off of the bike and to a small grassy area that was lower than the road. As soon as he was completely free of the bike, it transformed itself back into the watch and flew over to Sougo. He grabbed it and moved to press himself back against the wall leading up to the road. He huddled down and held his breath as the sound of a motorcycle raced along the road above him. As the sound of the motorcycle faded into the distance, Sougo sunk down to the ground. Somehow, he’d managed to escape.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

“What did you think you were doing?!” Geiz shouted at Tsukuyomi. He had searched for Zi-O for hours and been unable to find him again after Tsukuyomi had told him to run. “It was the perfect chance to get rid of Oma Zi-O once and for all.” Geiz could feel his blood boiling. He paced the dirt clearing that he had found Tsukuyomi in. 

“I was trying to keep you from killing an innocent person!” Tsukuyomi shouted back.

“He isn’t innocent! He’s Oma Zi-O!”

“Why can’t you understand that he isn’t Oma Zi-O yet!” Tsukuyomi took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, let out the breath that she had taken and her shoulders slumped. She continued softly, “If you kill him now, you’re just as evil as Oma Zi-O is. Killing off anyone and everyone who you think might be a problem.”

Geiz froze. His jaw clenched. “How can you forgive him?” he bit out. “After everything he does int he future.” Geiz clenched his hands. “After everyone he killed.” 

“I can’t forgive Oma Zi-O, but Sougo isn’t him,” Tsukuyomi replied. “Woz- Woz may have made him Zi-O, but- but the future can be different. We just have to keep Sougo from becoming Oma Zi-O… from becoming evil.” 

Geiz snorted and crossed his arms. “You have such faith.” 

Tsukuyomi gave Geiz a weak smile. “Someone has to. And it’s obviously not going to be you.” 

“Fine,” Geiz ground out. “I won’t kill him the next time I see him. But if he does anything…”

“We’ll be there to stop him,” Tsukuyomi returned.

Geiz nodded. He shut his eyes and took in the near silence. The sound of the birds in the nearby trees washed over him. They could still save the future. And when Tsukuyomi eventually realized that Oma Zi-O wasn’t worth trying to save, he would be there to do what had to be done. 

Tsukuyomi looked away from Geiz and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Do you really think that was Woz?” she eventually asked in a soft voice.

Geiz opened his eyes. He wastched a breeze make Tsukuyomi’s shirt flutter. “I hope not,” Geiz said. Tsukuyomi relaxed. 

If Oma Zi-O had managed to convince a rebel leader to support him… “But I fear if it is,” he continued. 

Tsukuyomi tensed. “Me too.”


	5. Another Kamen Rider Appears

He saw it shifting. He watched it slipping. He was moving, his feet pounding against the ground, lighter than air, faster than light. “Mika!” He was crying out. Trying to make her stop or trying to make her move. He didn’t know what he was hoping for, just not her. And then it all stopped, froze. A moment caught in time. 

“You can save her,” A boy smiled. He almost looked like an angel, so young and baby-faced, with such curly dark hair. But there was no gown or wings, instead he wore some strange blue cross-between a factory workers outfit and an elementary school uniform. 

“All you have to do is accept the contract,” The boy held out a strange black and purple pocket watch. “Then you’ll have the power to help her. To help everyone who needs your help.” The boy’s smile grew. “Don’t you want to do that, Mr. Policeman?”

“Who are you?” his voice seemed odd, slow in a way that it shouldn’t be. But maybe that’s just what happened when you were stuck in a second.

“I’m Heure,” Heure said, cocking his head at an angle. “So, will you accept the contract? Or are you going to let her die?” 

He looked to where his sister stood, in another second she would be crushed to death. He was just too far away. He wouldn’t make it. He swallowed and looked at Heure. “I accept.”

Heure grinned. “You won’t regret it.” He held out the watch. “Just push the button at the top.” 

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo yawned. He made his way downstairs. The previous day had been long, stressful and hopefully something he wouldn’t have to deal with again. He hadn’t seen Tsukuyomi or the other man (Sougo hoped it was a man inside that suit and not a robot. A full-on robot would just be too weird.) again.

“Morning,” he called out as he made it to the bottom landing. 

“Good morning, Sougo-kun. Hope you slept well,” his uncle smiled. “I have good news. I managed to rent out the other rooms yesterday. We have two new renters.”

“Really? That’s great,” Sougo smiled.

“Come on in and meet them.” Junichiro pushed open the door to the dining room. “This is Tsukuyomi and Geiz. And this is my nephew, Sougo. I hope you can all get along well.”

Sougo stopped short in the doorway. “Hi…” he said slowly, staring with wide-eyes at Tsukuyomi. “Nice to meet you?” 

“Nice to meet you too, Sougo,” Tsukuyomi smiled.

Geiz glared. He stalked over to Sougo and leaned in. “I know what you are. Don’t think that I’ve forgotten. I’ll get you eventually,” Geiz snarled.

Sougo just blinked as Geiz stalked back over to his seat. He sat down and started eating. Sougo made his way slowly to the table, taking the seat next to Tsukuyomi.

Junichiro placed Sougo’s breakfast in front of him. “Today is breakfast time,” he laughed at his own joke. Sougo smiled at the plate of food plated to look like a clock.

“Looks delicious as always,” Sougo said and tucked in.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo sat at the local biking and skating area and watched the people. He had managed to sneak away from Geiz, who seemed to have made it personal mission to see everything Sougo did. It was getting a bit tiring. Who would have known that the guy that was trying to kill him the day before was now going to be living with his uncle and him. He could understand Geiz’s worries. But there was no way that Sougo was going to be an evil Oma Zi-O. He wanted to make people happy, and killing everyone and destroying the world wouldn’t do that.

“Watch out!” a woman cried.

Sougo saw a woman pulling a small boy back from the road. Not even a second later, the boy’s ball, which had been in the middle of the road was flattened as a car sped down the road.

“Jerk!” she yelled after the car. She looked down at the boy. “Are you all right?” 

The boy nodded.

The sound of squealing tires and a car crashing made everyone turn. The car that had just missed the boy had driven into one of the concrete supports along the side of the road. A man in a black hooded cape stood in the middle of the road.

Sougo started jogging over to where the car accident was.

“I won’t let anyone get hurt,” the hooded man said and walked to the car.

The driver got out shouting, “Are you stupid? What do you think you’re doing? You better pay-”

The hooded man crossed his hands in front of his chest. When he pulled his arms apart, an orange glow lit up the area. The driver froze and then collapsed onto the ground. The hooded man turned around. 

“Monster!” someone screamed. All the people who were there scattered and ran away. 

Sougo stopped. An orange grinning face stared back at him. The eyes were large black holes and there was a horn on its head. Sougo could see that the black hooded cape was actually just a hood connected to a tattered black leather jacket. The studding in the jacket’s lapels and shoulders continued down the pants to the shoes. Shoes that had the toes exposed, like the shoes had been too small to contain its orange feet. 

“Another Kamen Rider?” Sougo’s rider belt appeared in his hand. He put it on his waist and raised his hand for his ride watch. His body moved as he turned the watch face, put it in the belt and transformed.

“Stop!” Sougo grabbed at the Rider’s arm. Sougo’s hands slid through air as the rider vanished. He spun around as the rider appeared behind him. Each time Sougo reached for him, the rider disappeared into nothing. After trying for a fourth time, the other rider finally vanished without appearing again. Sougo did one more sweep of the area looking for the other rider before he dropped his transformation. He ran over to the driver, who was still collapsed next to his car.

“Hey,” Sougo gently shook the man. “Are you okay? Wake up.” The man was unresponsive. “Ambulance. Gotta call an ambulance.” He patted his pants’ pockets.

A length of rope came down around Sougo’s head and tightened around his body, pinning his arms down to his sides. Sougo stared in confusion down at the rope around him. Before he could look up, something hit his head and he felt his world fading to black.

“Good job, Narita.”

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo slowly woke up. He was laying on some grass in a garden of what appeared to be some sort of traditional house. He tried to move his hands to push himself up, but found that his arms were bound down to his chest. Sougo swallowed. He tried to wiggle his way out of the ropes to no avail. After a while, he gave up and just lay there. He rolled onto his side when he heard footsteps approaching.

Three young men came into the garden. Sougo looked them over. They didn’t appear to be threatening.

“You’re involved with that new Ghost, aren’t you?” the man with light gray hair and wearing a red silk jacket asked. “You’re working with him. Tell us the truth!”

“New ghost?” Sougo asked. “What are you talking about?” Sougo renewed his struggles against the ropes. “Let me go!” 

“Maybe he really doesn’t know anything. What do you think Takeru?” the man in the tan temple clothes said.

“Can someone please explain,” Sougo said as he flopped back down onto his side.

Takeru, who had bleached hair and was wearing a floral printed jinbei top, sighed. “Three years ago, a series of unexplained comas began to happen. All were people who had somehow hurt another person.” He squatted down to Sougo’s level. “Killers. Gang members who beat up innocent people. Drunk drivers who hit someone. People responsible for work place accidents. But the number of people who are falling into these comas is getting larger.” 

Sougo blinked. “But what does that have to do with me? Or some new ghost?”

“We’re Paranormal Phenomena Investigators. A client came to us saying that a kaijin had put their family member into a coma before vanishing. After looking at the victim, I found that it wasn’t just a coma, but that their souls had been pulled out of their body.” Takeru stood up. “And when we managed to get to today’s victim, we saw you and what we once thought was a kaijin.”

“Huh? Kaijin?” Sougo’s brow furrowed.

They gray haired man pushed forward. “Admit it. You know all about that new Kamen Rider Ghost and are working with him!” 

“No. No!” Sougo shook his head. “I didn’t even know there were other kamen riders besides Geiz and myself. That was Kamen Rider Ghost?” He looked up at the three men around him.

“Actually, I’m Kamen Rider Ghost. Or was, as the case may be,” Takeru smiled. “It appears there’s another Kamen Rider Ghost going around stealing people’s souls.” 

“Another Kamen Rider,” Sougo said softly to himself. “It’s not right what he’s doing. He needs to be stopped,” he said louder. He met Takeru’s eyes with a determined stare. “Let me help. I’m sure I can be useful.”

Takeru held his stare then gestured at Sougo. “Narita. Untie him.” 

“But Takeru!” Narita objected. “He could be lying to us!” Takeru and Narita had a staring contest for a few seconds before Narita huffed and untied the ropes that bound Sougo. 

Sougo rubbed feeling back into where the ropes had bound him. “I know some others who may be able to help.”


	6. Ghost in the Past

“Need to talk to Tsukuyomi and Geiz,” Sougo muttered to himself as he made his way home. “They’ll know something about this.” 

“My liege!” Woz said, stepping out from behind a tree and into Sougo’s path. Sougo jumped back with a startled gasp. “It is truly an honor to set eyes upon you again.” He lifted his hood swept into a low bow.

“You!” Sougo stepped forward. “Wait. Who are you? You know Tsukuyomi and Geiz, right?”

“My name is Woz.” Woz raised his head. “Unlike Tsukuyomi-kun and Geiz-kun, I am your ally. I am here to help guide your ascension to becoming the demon king Oma Zi-O.”

“I see. My ally…” Sougo trailed off. 

“According to this book,” Woz opened the large tome in his and held it up in front of his face. 

The book was large and ornately decorated with gears, cogs and a watch. Sougo bent his head forward. The cover read ‘Witching Time Advent Almanac’. Sougo bit back a grin. It was such a strange name for a book. 

“You will be crowned the King of Time and control not just the past, but also the future. However, Timejackers are trying prevent your ascension and bring forth their own king.”

“So, everyone is trying to change the future?” Sougo frowned.

“Everyone, but me.,” Woz said. He turned to the side and smiled into his book. “I’m trying preserve the original timeline and, of course, your rule, my demon king. All my labor will go towards keeping you on the path to becoming the demon king.”

“Wait, you said the timejackers are trying make their own king. How?” 

Woz returned his attention to his book. His left hand trailed along the words. “They create Another Kamen Rider by using Anotherwatches. To defeat an Another Rider, you will need to use the original rider’s powers against it.” 

“Then Takeru was right. It is actually Another Kamen Rider Ghost.” 

Woz closed his book with a snap. “It appears the Timejackers have already started changing time. You’ll have to go to the root of the problem to solve it, my demon lord.“ 

Sougo paced in front of Woz. “Takeru said that the comas started happening 3 years ago. So to solve the problem…” Sougo paced a few more times before letting out a sound of frustration. He scrubbed his hands through his hair. He gave Woz a sheepish smile.

“You’ll need to to harness the power of Kamen Rider Ghost and defeat the Another Rider when it was created,” Woz answered. 

“Great!” Sougo smiled at Woz. He paced away from Woz. “Now to talk to Takeru again and figure out how to-” Sougo turned around and blinked. “Woz?” He scanned the empty street around him. “Where did he go?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Now to figure out how to go back in time and talk to Takeru.” 

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Mika brushed her hair back from her face with her forearm. She carefully poured out the water from the rice cooker bowl. The water almost ran clear. She turned on the water over the pot again, swishing her hand through the rice as the bowl filled. 

“Today,” the newscaster said. “Another coma victim was found.”

“Another coma?” Mika paused and turned her attention to the TV. A photo of a woman and boy holding each other and crying was on the corner of the screen.

“This time a man in his 40s was found next to his car. Police say that there is a possible suspect in this case. Bystanders reported another man wearing all black near the victim before he collapsed. The man’s wife and son are pleading for anyone with any information please come forward.” 

“Those poor people.” Mika looked over her shoulder. “Please be careful, brother. I don’t know what I’d do if that were you.”

Shun adjusted his police cap. “I’ll be fine.“ 

“In other news, the president of the largest talent agency, Heart Talent, is currently embroiled in a scandal over sexual harassment,” the newcaster continued.

He straightened his uniform. “Try to stay out of trouble.” He grabbed his keys and left the apartment. He stopped around the corner from his building. “I’ll protect everyone.” He pulled the black and purple Anotherwatch out of his bag and activated it.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

“These are the people I was telling you about,” Sougo said, when Takeru opened the door.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Takeru Tenkuji,” he smiled. 

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Tsukyomi and this is Geiz.” She gestured to Geiz, who stood behind her with his arms crossed. 

He led them to around the buildings inner garden to a sitting room. A low table sat in the middle of the floor with cushions placed around it. Several cups and pot of tea sat in the middle. “Please, have a seat,” Takeru gestured. He poured the tea.

Tsukuyomi took her cup. “Aa, thank you.” She took a sip. “Sougo said you know about the Another Rider.”

Takeru nodded. “We’ve been tracking the coma cases for about a year. In our research, the first case was actually a construction worker from about 3 years ago.” He pushed some photocopied newspaper clippings across the table. ‘Local worker falls in coma, leads to accident’ one of the headlines read.

“Some girders fell while the crane operator was moving it. The article says that his coma led to the accident. But later reports say that people saw him leave the crane after the girders fell. That it was while trying to see if anyone was hurt that he fell into a coma. Well, lost his soul, actually.”

“Did anyone die?” Sougo asked. 

Takeru shook his head. “No, thankfully. But it was a close call. A young woman was almost crushed to death. Rumor says that her brother was initially thought to have been killed. But he appeared, alive, a few minutes later. But there was no mysterious comas before this incident. So whoever it is, started here.”

Geiz frowned at Takeru. “If you knew about this Another Rider, why didn’t you do anything about it?”

“I would have. But once all the Kaijin were gone, my belt wouldn’t work any more.” Takeru stood and went to the closet. He slid open the door, revealing his Ghost belt sitting in a display case. He lifted the belt out and brought it to the table. He set it down gently before Sougo, Tsukuyomi and Geiz.

“But how can we use Ghost’s powers to defeat the Another Rider, if it doesn’t work anymore?” Sougo asked. 

“Well, this was a waste of time,” Geiz muttered.

Sougo reached out and let his fingers trail along the ghost driver. The eye in the center lit up. Everyone stared at it. The light grew brighter, filling the room.

“What did you do?” Geiz demanded with squinted eyes.

“I just touched it!” Sougo protested. 

Everyone raised their arms to cover their eyes. After a few seconds the light dimmed. Sitting on top of the ghost driver was an orange and black ridewatch. Sougo picked it up and grinned.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

Sougo and Geiz watched the crane operator’s booth.

“Anyone hurt?!” 

“I don’t know!” 

“I thought there was a man!”

The construction workers were shouting and running to the pile of girders that was now sitting on the sidewalk. The operator door flew open and a man climbed down from the cab.

“Brother! Brother!” Mika shouted. Her attempt to reacher the fallen girders was halted as one of the construction workers held her back.

The crane operator rounded the front of his machine and stopped. A police officer stood in front of him. 

“It was accident!”

“Mika. You almost killed her,” Shun said. “I’ll protect her. I’ll protect everyone.” He held up his right hand. He turned the watch face and activated the watch. A tattered black cloak flew out from the watch and draped itself over his shoulders. From there, Another Ghost’s black suit spread over Shun’s body.

The construction worker stumbled back. Another Ghost followed him. Shun crossed his arms over his chest. The worker screamed.

“Run!” Zi-O shouted, tackling Another Ghost from behind. The man managed to stutter out a response and flee. Zi-O charged Another Ghost again. He threw a punch. Another Ghost dodged. Kamen Rider Geiz stepped in with a kick. Another Ghost deflected it. Sougo and Geiz kept attacking. 

Sougo managed to grab onto one of Shun’s arms and shouted, “Stop it! Mika wouldn’t want this!”

“Must,” Another Ghost swung at Zi-O with his free hand. “Protect.”

Geiz’s axe swung down between Zi-O and Another Ghost. “You can’t reason with him,” Geiz shouted at Sougo. He continued to attack Another Ghost. 

Zi-O panted. He pulled out the Ghost Watch. “For Takeru, and everyone.” He spun the cover of the watch and activated it. ‘Ghost’ echoed along the street. He placed onto the left side of his belt and activated the belt. He took a breath a spun the buckle.

‘Armor Time. Kaigan Ghost.’ Silver armor layered over Zi-O’s body. His chest piece flashed with the Eye.

“Rejoice!” Woz’s voice rang through the now empty construction site. Woz stood on the cab of the crane. “The one who will inherit all the rider powers, the King of Time, who shall rule over the past and the future has appeared before you. And his name is,” Woz paused to take a breath. His right hand flew up into the air. “Kamen Rider Zi-O Ghost Armor!”

Sougo did a double-take. “How’d you get here?” 

He shook his head to refocus. He turned his attention back to Another Ghost. He charged back into the fray. 

Finally, Geiz and Zi-O both hit Another Ghost at the same time, sending him flying back into some concrete barriers.

“Now, Zi-O,” Geiz ordered.

“R-right!” Sougo activated the Ridewatches again. ‘Finish Time! Ghost!’ He spun the his belt and jumped into the air. “Omega Time Break!”

Another Ghost stumbled to his feet as Zi-O’s finisher hit him. Another Ghost’s armor dissolved and Shun collapsed onto the ground unconscious. The Anotherwatch fell from his hand and rolled along the ground.

Zi-O rushed to check over Shun and released his transformation. He breathed a sign of relief when he found the man still alive.

“We did it!” Sougo smiled at Geiz. The world around him seemed to slow down.

“So you’re Zi-O,” Heure said. He walked around Sougo, looking him over. “The King of Time? You don’t look like much.” He smirked at him.

Sougo’s eyelids slowly started to fall in a blink.

“Let me see what future you will make,” Heure patted Sougo on the head twice and then walked off. 

Sougo felt himself jerk as the world once more started moving.

*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*

“Thanks for all of your help,” Sougo said to Takeru.

“I’m glad I could,” Takeru smiled at Sougo, Geiz and Tsukuyomi. “If anything, I should be thanking you. You solved my case.”

Narita entered the sitting room. “Oh, are these new clients? I’ll go get the tea.” 

“Not clients,” Takeru cut-in. “Just friends.” 

“Friends?” Narita’s brow creased in thought. He stared at the three trying to place them. The silence stretched. He shook himself from his trance. “Tea. Be right back.” 

They all watched Narita leave.

“No one, except me, remembers anything about the comas,” Takeru said once Narita was gone. “You really did manage to change time.” 

“But you still remember?” Tsukuyomi asked.

Takeru nodded. “It’s weird. I have two sets of different overlapping memories. I can remember the time when were searching for the source of the comas, but I can also remember the different cases we took instead.” 

“You better not tell anyone about it,” Geiz frowned.

Takeru shook his head. “Who would believe me?”


End file.
